WTI Crude Oil Price Chart (West Texas Intermediate)
LIVEWTI (West Texas Intermediate) is the US crude oil benchmark. It is a light, sweet grade priced in US dollars per barrel through NYMEX futures that end in physical delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma. The live chart below tracks TVC:USOIL, the front-month WTI quote. To compare WTI with Brent, use our crude oil price hub.
Live West Texas Intermediate crude oil price per barrel (TVC:USOIL). Updates automatically.
What this WTI chart shows
The chart tracks TVC:USOIL, TradingView's continuous quote for front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, in US dollars per barrel. It follows the NYMEX light sweet crude contract (ticker CL) and rolls to the next month as each contract nears expiry. Use the range buttons to switch between intraday (1D) and the full history (All).
This page is WTI-only. To compare WTI with the international benchmark on one chart, use the crude oil price per barrel hub (WTI vs Brent); for the North Sea benchmark on its own, see the Brent crude price chart.
WTI crude oil: key specifications
| Item | WTI detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | West Texas Intermediate |
| Quality | Light (API gravity about 39 to 40°) and sweet (sulfur about 0.2 to 0.3%) |
| Futures exchange | NYMEX, part of CME Group |
| Contract size | 1,000 barrels; a $0.01 move equals $10 per contract |
| Settlement | Physical delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma |
| Expiry | A few business days before the 25th of the month before delivery |
| Trading hours | Nearly 24 hours, Sunday evening to Friday afternoon (US Eastern), on CME Globex |
How to read the WTI oil price chart
- Check the headline number and the daily change in dollars and percent at the top of the widget.
- Choose a range that fits your question. 1D for reaction to news such as the EIA report, 12M for the yearly trend, All for the long cycle.
- Mind the rollover. A continuous chart stitches monthly contracts together, so a small jump around expiry can be a contract switch rather than a real move.
- Use percentages over long periods. WTI has traded from around $10 to above $140 since the late 1990s, so a log scale gives a fairer picture than a linear one.
- Remember weekends. Futures pause over the weekend, so Monday's open can gap away from Friday's close.
One barrel is 42 US gallons (158.987 litres). Divide the WTI price per barrel by 42 to get the cost of crude per gallon. If WTI were $63, crude would cost $1.50 per gallon before refining, transport and tax.
Cushing, storage and the negative price of April 2020
Because WTI futures end in physical delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma, storage levels there matter far more for WTI than for seaborne benchmarks. When tanks fill up, holders of an expiring contract must find somewhere to put the oil or sell at almost any price.
That is what happened on 20 April 2020. COVID-19 lockdowns had cut fuel demand and Cushing storage was close to full. The expiring May 2020 contract settled at −$37.63 per barrel, the first negative settlement in the contract's history, while later-dated contracts stayed positive. It is the deepest dip you will see on a long-range WTI chart, and the main reason WTI is described as "landlocked".
What moves the WTI price
- EIA weekly petroleum status report: US crude, gasoline and distillate stocks, including Cushing. It is usually released Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET, with the industry API estimate the evening before.
- US shale production and rig counts: Baker Hughes publishes the US rig count every Friday.
- Refinery runs and seasonal demand: the summer driving season and winter heating demand.
- Pipeline and export capacity from inland fields to the Gulf Coast, which affects the WTI discount to Brent.
- OPEC+ decisions, global demand and the US dollar, which move WTI and Brent together.
WTI vs Brent spread
WTI used to trade at a small premium to Brent because it is slightly lighter and sweeter. When US shale output outgrew pipeline capacity in the early 2010s, oil backed up inland and WTI moved to a discount, which has been the usual pattern since. Today the spread mostly reflects the cost of moving US crude to the coast and shipping it abroad. Compare both live on the oil price per barrel hub.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up WTI and Brent headlines. Check the benchmark before comparing numbers.
- Assuming the April 2020 negative price applied to all oil. It was one expiring futures contract.
- Reading the per-barrel price as the price of gasoline. Pump prices include refining, distribution and taxes.
Related reading: how to read a chart, the uranium spot price for another energy market, and forex rates for the US dollar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this WTI oil price chart live?
Yes. The chart streams TradingView's TVC:USOIL quote, which follows front-month WTI crude futures and updates during trading hours, nearly 24 hours a day from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon US Eastern time. Over the weekend it shows the last price from Friday.
What is the ticker symbol for WTI crude oil?
On NYMEX the WTI light sweet crude futures contract trades under the ticker CL. On TradingView, the continuous WTI quote used on this page is TVC:USOIL. Many brokers label it USOIL, WTI or CL1.
What does light, sweet crude mean?
Light means the oil has a low density (high API gravity) and sweet means it has little sulfur. WTI is both, which makes it easier and cheaper to refine into gasoline and diesel than heavy or sour crude.
Where is WTI crude oil delivered?
WTI futures settle by physical delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma, a large US pipeline and storage hub. That inland delivery point is why Cushing storage levels have a strong influence on the WTI price.
Why did WTI go negative on April 20, 2020?
The expiring May 2020 WTI contract settled at minus 37.63 dollars per barrel because COVID-19 had cut demand and storage at Cushing was nearly full. Traders who could not take delivery paid others to take the oil. Later contracts stayed positive.
Why is WTI usually cheaper than Brent?
Since the US shale boom of the early 2010s, WTI has usually traded below Brent because inland US crude must be piped to the coast before it can be exported, while Brent is already seaborne. The size of the gap changes with pipeline capacity and global demand.